Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Delayed Promises or God's Timing

Genesis 40:14-15 (NLT) “And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.”

For two years after Joseph interpreted the dreams, he continued to sit in prison. It had to be discouraging for Joseph to know that he had shared what God had showed him for the baker and the cup bearer, and yet Joseph was still in prison, for a crime he didn't commit. He received God's favor, but part of him had to be discouraged to still be imprisoned after so much time had passed. He might have felt alone and forgotten, even as he was trying his best to serve God.

He might have gotten upset at the cup bearer for forgetting what he had promised to do. Or maybe he related to him on some level. When don't know 100% of Joseph's story, only the highlights.

As I thought about this, I wondered how often do we make promises, and then fail to follow through on them, I know that I have made promises with the best of intention at the time, and then forgot when the time came.

Or how often are we on the receiving end of a delayed promise. Where others make promises and they don't deliver.

On the flip side of this story, the what if is there. We know how the story ends, but Joseph didn't.

I realized sometimes we need to look at those delayed promises for the hand of God. What if the cup bearer had kept his promise, and Joseph had been released. Without interpreting Pharaoh's dream he would not have become second in command and he could not have saved Egypt or Israel in the time of famine.

We can never know the what if's in our life. The things that God orchestrates behind the scenes for our benefit, or the benefit of others. It is easy to become inpatient in the waiting, to be disappointed at the delayed promise, but what if, the delay is because God is working His perfect timing. What if?

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About Me

Hello, my name is Jackie Schnedler. I am a mother of three adult children. I also have three grandchildren. I am married to my junior high sweetheart, this is our second marriage to each other. And as the youngest of five children I am also in the stage of life, where I help care for my widowed mother.

I am a social worker by profession. I have worked in child welfare, psychiatric hospital, medical hospital, private practice, and nonprofit. I love being a social worker, and although I can't share the personal stories due to confidentiality, God has given me wisdom to help others through things I couldn't imagine. Often times I can share the lesson, but without the story. My life has been blessed to touch the lives of many, and I am blessed to be used by God doing what I do.

Life has given me a lot of experiences to write about, and God is
giving me new insight into things stretching me and growing me in to who
He designed me to be when I finally grow up! Usually when people meet
me, they say "Your too young to have a 22 year old," to which I respond
"Yes." Kinda not worth the argument and they don't want to hear my
crazy teenage mother story.

That being said, I believe every experience I have been through has been for the benefit of others. It is not my job to tell others' stories, but it is my passion to help people who are in circumstances that I have been through and share the wisdom that God has given me to help people through circumstances I haven't faced.